SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... Orphans and Class Anxiety in Nineteenth-century English Novels A Dissertation Presented by Junghan Choi to The Graduate School in Partial Ful¯llment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Stony Brook University August 2008 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Junghan Choi We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this dissertation. Helen M. Cooper { Dissertation Advisor Associate Professor, English Susan Scheckel { Chairperson of Defense Associate Professor, English Peter J. Manning Professor, English Lou Charnon-Deutsch Professor Hispanic Languages and Literature This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School. Lawrence Martin Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Dissertation Orphans and Class Anxiety in Nineteenth-century English Novels by Junghan Choi Doctor of Philosophy in English Stony Brook University 2008 This dissertation discusses the most popular outsiders in nineteenth- century English novels|orphans. Both real and ¯ctional orphans are often known to formulate the threatening force that disturbs conventional domesticity and obscures social boundaries, for with- out heritage or parentage an individual in the nineteenth century is home-less, name-less, and class-less. Suggesting Mary Shel- ley's creature in Frankenstein as the ¯rst orphan prototype in nineteenth-century novels, this dissertation shows the inevitable tension between orphans and society. However, this study also argues that literary orphan characters encourage purposeful sepa- iii ration from domestic history and pursue self-reformation rejecting social and cultural interference. Novels that I have chosen insist upon legal and cultural transformation concerning the marginal- ized, but most of all they provide compelling stories that endanger orphans' physical and psychological stabilization yet shelter their individualities from domestic imprisonment. The prevalent class anxiety and social prejudice could discourage the self-development of this trope of outsiders, but I argue that they intentionally dis- possess domesticity and reject tearful familial reunion because they ¯nd conventional social de¯nition unnecessary and iniquitous. The examination of these unique orphan characters does not provide a historically accurate portrayal of \real" orphans. This study as- sumes that "real" orphans su®ered from extensive economical and familial di±culties and those literary orphans enjoy the privilege of orphan-hood recreated by BrontÄe,Eliot, Collins, Thackeray, Craik and Dickens. iv Contents Acknowledgements vii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The Obstinate Reality Remains Undisturbed. (1997) ..... 5 1.2 \The victim of a systematic course of treachery and decep- tion"(1838) ............................ 11 1.3 Sentimental Readers and Crying Orphans (1807) ........ 13 1.4 An Orphan Priest's Blasphemy (1795) ............. 15 1.5 A Bastard's Conspiracy (1608) .................. 17 1.6 Conclusion ............................. 20 2 Invisible Orphans-To Threaten, To Serve and To Moralize 23 2.1 The Unreliable Poor and the Unreliable Workhouses ..... 26 2.2 Orphanages or Orphan Asylum ................. 33 2.3 Illegitimacy ............................ 38 2.4 Conclusion ............................. 42 3 Dismantling Class Anxiety: Two Orphans' Obsession with In- dividuality and the New Family of Orphans 44 v 3.1 Lucy's only question: \Who am I indeed?" ........... 61 3.2 George Eliot's New Victorian Family: \We are a family of or- phans." .............................. 73 4 Their Inappropriate Resistance: Female Impostors in the House 82 4.1 A Female Orphan's Request: \Give me any name you like." . 87 4.2 My Family Is In My Way. .................... 107 4.2.1 The Ambitious Angel in the House ........... 111 4.2.2 \Why don't she ever sing to me?" ........... 125 5 Orphans or \Sincere" Heroes 129 5.1 Daniel Deronda .......................... 136 5.1.1 \My name is Daniel Deronda. I am unknown, but not in any sense great"(522). ................. 142 5.1.2 \I am your mother. But you can have no love for me." 154 5.1.3 A Hero Must be Historical. ............... 163 5.2 \[You] want to found a family. all coming generations shall live to the honor and glory of your name-our name." ..... 168 5.2.1 The Mad Woman and Our Hero ............. 179 6 Conclusion 184 Bibliography 190 vi Acknowledgements I could not have written this dissertation without Professor Helen Cooper, Professor Lou Charnon-Deutsch, Professor Susan Scheckel, and Professor Peter Manning. Especially Professor Cooper's patience, encouragement and meticu- lous attitude have made me a better scholar. Above all, I came to realize that I cannot live without my husband. Thank you. Chapter 1 Introduction Outsiders create social and political tension as soon as they enter a sta- bilized society. In the name of progress and assimilation, outsiders pressure those within to accept their strangeness and attempt to transcend their own di®erence. Yet how do they appeal to these inside residents when their ex- istence personi¯es immorality and illegitimacy? Or how do they demand ac- ceptance when they deliberately choose transgression and alienation? The abandoned, the alienated, the ignored-orphans can be considered an emerging force for disruption within the domestic sphere, but this study underscores the potential social flexibility and mobility encouraged by the disturbing yet enlightening representation of orphans in nineteenth-century English novels. Such orphans suggest a revision of conventional Victorian domesticity and the creation of distinct individualities separate from domestic history. Ex- amining orphan characters leads to de¯ning their formulation of autonomous individuality as a necessary procedure to achieve social mobility and cultural acceptance. In the novels that I discuss, orphans' denial of their own identities 1 does not guarantee assimilation; in fact, it only accentuates their destabilized selfhood. The internal acknowledgment of their unconventionality digni¯es their self-identity, which ironically leads to the more a®able relationship. The profoundly meaningful and intimate relationship between orphans and society may depend upon their ability to extend and negotiate principles of traditional domesticity and ideologies, while preserving their eccentricities. Julia Kristeva describes orphans' internal frustration and substantiation of their identities most e®ectively in Strangers to Ourselves. She writes: To be deprived of parents|is that where freedom starts? Cer- tainly foreigners become intoxicated with that independence, and undoubtedly their very exile is at ¯rst no more than a challenge to parental overbearance. Those who have not experienced the near- hallucinatory daring of imagining themselves without parents-free of debt and duties-cannot understand the foreigners' folly, what it provides in the pleasure (\I am my sole master"), what it comprises in the way of angry homicide (\neither father nor mother, neither God nor master. "). If I tried. to share with them some of the violence that causes me to be totally on my own, they would not know where I am, who I am, what it is, in others, that rubs me the wrong way. (21-3) The impossibility of imagining orphan-hood signi¯es the di±culty of formu- lating an elemental relationship with such social outsiders. The dangerous assumption that orphans must enjoy their \freedom" aggravates themselves, and Kristeva admonishes readers that an unprepared and shallow approach would cause violence, resentment, and disconnection. However, this does not mean that society should fear orphans either. She stresses how orphans su®er from the disposition to destabilize themselves psychologically. They refrain from communication, not out of resentment, but out of social ignorance and 2 inexperience. Unaccustomed to conventional attachment, they impede their ability to connect socially, which distracts them from domestication. Kris- teva's ideas of their disorientation can be applied to literary orphan charac- ters. Orphans that I discuss question the necessity of pretentious compliant relationships and intentionally choose to remain marginalized. What happens if an orphan is forced to integrate into his or her society? Does a happy familial reunion resolve all conflicts? Is it possible to prefer alienation and isolation to cultural acceptance? The idea of complete solitude tortures orphans, as they too seek companionship and community to conceive self-identity. However, orphans like habitual travelers or strangers possess impulses to remain outsiders within foreign cultures because they appreciate the only consistent element and consolation that would not abandon them-the familiar solitude. Born without legitimate names, they are externally cursed and distanced from society, but the internalized sorrow of solitude remains constant. Therefore, they resist the familiar stability and pursue the unfamiliar territory. John Richetti summarizes the essence of ¯ctional individualities in both eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century literature: Eighteenth-century ¯ction is [important]for the understanding of this evolving entity, the socially